Steve Jobs:
"Good artists copy; great artists steal."
"It's more fun to be a pirate than to join the navy."
Bill Gates to Steve Jobs:
"Hey, Steve, just because you broke into Xerox's house before I did and stole the TV doesn't mean that I can't go in later and take the stereo."

These Asian firms except Japan are growing up. I can infer that Samsung copied Apple. But if that is illegal is left for the court to decide. Apple copied Blackberry because without BB Steve Jobs might not have dreamth of iPhone.

This is getting cloudy. So, Apple truly wanted Samsung to come clean before they embarked on this ugly public show. The fact that Samsung is open to go this path means they have confidence they are doing something right.

What evidence do you have that innovation would stop?As long as there's lots of money to be made I think companies and individuals will continue trekking right along with new ideas to get their hands on it.

Personal feeling, but if everyone let's these things just pass. What's the point of being a front runner when all that the other companies have to do is copy the technology right after someone builds it. If the world keeps on letting China and South Korea get away with this, we will eventually look into the world where innovation will be dead because no one will bother bringing new ideas to the table.

In conjunction with unveiling of EE Times’ Silicon 60 list, journalist & Silicon 60 researcher Peter Clarke hosts a conversation on startups in the electronics industry. One of Silicon Valley's great contributions to the world has been the demonstration of how the application of entrepreneurship and venture capital to electronics and semiconductor hardware can create wealth with developments in semiconductors, displays, design automation, MEMS and across the breadth of hardware developments. But in recent years concerns have been raised that traditional venture capital has turned its back on hardware-related startups in favor of software and Internet applications and services. Panelists from incubators join Peter Clarke in debate.